What a Coincidence
by trudis123
Summary: Three years later, Quinn has just graduated and is moving to New York to start a new life. Her mom sets her up with a roommate, but its the last person she thought she would ever want to see again. Canon pretty much up to Season 5. Some reference to Finchel, lots of Faberry moments
1. Chapter 1

**_Hey everyone! I haven't posted anything in forever, so I decided to start a new fresh story that might motivate to finish my other ones that I've hit a block with. I'm also using this as a way to build up my chops. Let me know what you think!_**

* * *

_Quinn POV_

Quinn rolled her eyes as she tried to pay attention to what her mother was telling her.

"Oh, Quinnie you're going to love your new roommate. From what I've heard, she's quite the firecracker. She has an amazing voice and has just graduated a few months ago just like you. That means you two are the same age!" Judy squealed with girlish delight.

Despite her hesitance, Quinn had followed her mother's advice and had agreed to move to New York shortly after graduating from Yale. She'd earned her degree in photography, and her mother had insisted the New York was the place to go. Hearing the name "New York" was enough to make her stomach feel queasy. She hadn't been to the city since she and Santana had gone for the intervention to stop Rachel from doing a topless scene in some crappy student made movie.

Shortly after the debacle, she had stopped talking to Rachel and all of the other former glee club members. She had heard about Finn's death but she couldn't even imagine how she would send her condolences to the Hummel's and Rachel, so she simply left it at that. Sure, she felt terrible about leaving and not looking back, but that was the only way that she would ever be able to start doing things for her instead of doing what everyone else wanted her to do.

She'd broken things off with the stupid professor that she was seeing and vowed to remain single until she had her life in order. Three years later, she was still single and still hadn't gotten her act together. She really didn't mind though. She was able to live her romantic life vicariously through her roommates and all the drama that went through their love lives was just enough for her.

She interrupted her mother to finally get in her two cents, "Mom, I don't know why you can't just let me get my own apartment. What do I need a roommate for? I've spent the last four years of my life with two other roommates. Why do I need one again when I'm finally supposed to be on my own?"

"Quinn, I've already told you dear that the young lady you will be sharing the apartment is niece to Eric."

Oh yes. Eric. How could she have forgotten about Eric? Eric had met her mother at the supermarket about a year and half back and before the year was up he had proposed to her mother. They'd been married for six months now and her mother was still in the honeymoon phase. Eric was a lawyer, and pretty damn good one at that. Her mother was once again a trophy wife to a wealthy man, but Eric was very different from her father. He was a genuinely kind man that Quinn approved of and even kind of liked. Her mother was happy now, and that's all that mattered to her.

Quinn nodded to herself in recognition to what her mom was saying. The girl was his niece, so she would have been at the wedding. "What was her name again, Mom?"

"Oh sweetie, I think her name is Rebecca, or Brianna, or something like that."

"You don't even know her name?" Quinn said incredulously, "Mom you're telling me to move in with a girl whose first name you don't even know? What if she's crazy or something?"

"Oh, hush Quinn. Eric says the girl is harmless. He said she can be dramatic sometimes, but that the trait grows on you and that she's a very loyal friend."

"Did I meet her at the wedding?"

"I don't think so. She had some sort of school play going on that she couldn't get away from. But she sent a very beautiful bouquet flowers. She's a very sweet girl."

Oh yeah, the flowers her mom had gone on about for a week. "Mom, you don't even know who she is."

"It's the thought that counts, Quinn. Now, no more fussing. I'll text you the address for the apartment and the moving truck will meet you there in an hour."

"Fine," Quinn mumbled.

"What was that?"

"I said, thank you Mom for finding an apartment for me and setting up the move for me so that I wouldn't have to worry about anything in this stressful time of my life."

"That's what I thought you said."

"Yes ma'am."

"Call me when you get there, sweetie."

"Yes ma'am "

"Love you."

"Love you too."

Quinn hung up the phone and let her head fall back to hit the head of her seat. It had been a long day. She had liked the idea of coming to New York and making a name for herself once she got around her past. Just because things had happened back then didn't mean that they would follow her now. Her mom texted her the address complete with dozens of emoticons that her she had been proud to find on her own.

She started off towards the address and allowed her mind to wander. Who was the mystery woman that she would be living with? She thought back to the names that came up during the wedding, but she kept drawing a blank. Her mother had mentioned the girl being a singer, and based on the play, an actress. She was immediately reminded of Rachel Berry and her stomach churned at the memories that flooded her mind. She shook her head to remove the thoughts from her mind. After talking to herself the other night for an hour, she had come to the decision that if she were to ever run across Rachel in New York she would simply nod or wave at the girl in recognition. They didn't need to have any other contact besides that.

She pulled up to the apartment complex that she would now call her home. The movers were about fifteen minutes early and were already starting to take her boxes up to the loft that she would be sharing with mystery-girl. She took the elevator up and walked into the loft. It was spacious and seemed modern with a rustic look to it. The walls were brick and there were some steel columns that were lined against the walls from the living area from the kitchen. The furniture was a dark scarlet color and was simply gorgeous. Christmas lights had been hung up at the tops of the walls, and Quinn noted that mystery-girl had good taste. She had always wanted to put them up in her room, but her roommates had always complained about having to turn the lights off and on every time they left their room.

She walked further into the loft and laughed to herself at a sign that was hanging in the hallway with a bunch of arrows pointing to it. She read it and rolled her eyes as she saw her first name. Her mother had probably shared her first name with the girl. Leave it to her mother to over share information. The sign read,

_Dear Lucy, I'm sorry that I wasn't here to meet you. I had to run an errand quickly, and I should be back in about 45 minutes. The time is now 2:30, in case you were wondering. You're room is located at the very end of the hallway to the left and had its own bathroom. Pretty cool, huh? Feel free to look around the loft and my room too if you want, I have nothing to hide! I can't wait to meet you so we can talk about our insane families that make us family too, I guess. See you in a bit! - RB_

Quinn looked at the initials once more. RB. Rebecca Brianna? Maybe her mom was right about the name after all. She glanced at her watch and noted that the time was now 3:00. Mystery-girl, or RB, would be here any minute and she wanted a chance to see how her room had turned out.

She walked to her room and took in a breath at how beautiful her room had turned out. The walls were the same brick as the living and kitchen area, and she also had a huge window that overlooked a garden outside, complete with stairs that led to the garden below. This would be the perfect place to explore and express herself artistically. She would have to thank her mother later for setting her up with the awesome place. She was finally starting to feel better about moving to New York.

The movers came in about 10 minutes later to give their leave and Quinn decided to use the remaining time to explore the rest of the loft. She put on her old Hilary Duff CD and quietly rocked out to herself as she explored the kitchen and the living room. There was a wide variety of movies to choose from in the entertainment center, and there was an impressive flat screen TV that she couldn't wait to spend some time with. The kitchen was stocked with interesting vegan food that she had never heard of before, so she made a mental note to go to the store for some other food that she could eat. She was glad to see that there was a coffee machine in the kitchen as well. She had grown very fond of her morning cups of coffee and was glad she wouldn't have to pick it up herself.

Going back to her room, she rearranged some of the items and, true to the note, she had her own decent bathroom that had a dark green color for the wall that was very soothing and the shower looked nice enough too.

She walked out of her room and decided to check out the other girl's room before she got back. The room was similar to her own, but the girl had hung up a Funny Girl poster and had several trophies in a case off to the side of the bed. On her way to the case, she admired the soft homemade quilt that lay on the bed a studied some of the books on a bookshelf in the corner. It seemed like she and RB were going to get along just fine. She had a good number of the classics on the shelf along with some of the more recent YA novels. She stepped closer to the trophy case and read one of the awards to herself, _NYADA Senior Showcase Top Performer- Rachel Barbra Berry. _Her heart stopped and then picked up at a lightening quick pace.

No no no no no. This couldn't be right. She checked the other awards to make sure they were all given to the same woman. Rachel Barbra Berry. Her eyes flicked back to the Funny Girl poster on the wall again and there it was, _Starring Rachel Berry. _She shook her head frantically and started backing up towards the door, stopping dead in her tracks when she heard the all too familiar voice.

"Quinn?"

* * *

_Rachel POV_

Rachel woke up bright and early at her usual 6:00 in morning and ran downstairs to get in her hour of exercise on the elliptical in the gym. Her new roommate was moving today and she was extremely excited. After taking a shower and finishing off some vegan pancakes for breakfast, she called her uncle to go over the details.

"Hi there, Uncle Eric!"

"Hey Rach! How's my superstar doing today?"

"Oh I'm just fine, Uncle E. I'm a little scatterbrained at the moment, trying to clean the loft and get it ready until my new roommate shows up. What's her name again?"

"Her name's Lucy, dear."

Lucy. Rachel smiled to herself. She had always liked that name. "How's Judy doing today? I still haven't met her!"

"She's fine Rachel, I'll tell her you asked. She still goes on and on about the flowers you sent her on our wedding day."

Her smile grew bigger, "I'm glad she liked them."

"Yes, dear. Well, I have to go into a meeting now. Judy told me that Lucy should be arriving at the loft sometime around 3:00, so that'll give you some time to get ready, no?"

"Yup. I'm already on it."

"I'll talk to you later Rach, don't scare Lucy too much okay?"

Rachel laughed, "I make no promises Uncle E."

Rachel took in her surroundings and let out a soft sigh. Alright, it's time to get down to business. She busied herself and started to clean up the mess that she had in the living room and kitchen from breakfast earlier, waiting to clean her room last just in case she didn't get to it time and she could tell Lucy not to go in.

She was honestly very excited about having a new roommate coming in. Santana had recently moved out on her own to do a little soul searching and Kurt had long since moved into an apartment with Blaine when he moved into the city. She had enjoyed the short time alone to herself, but she was starting to get a little lonely. When Eric mentioned that Judy's daughter was going to be moving into the city, she saw it as the perfect opportunity to not only garner a new roommate, but as a chance to get closer to the new member of the family. She had felt terrible that she hadn't been able to make her uncle's wedding because of rehearsals for her senior recital at NYADA.

New York had been very kind to her the past four years. After Finn's death she had a hard time dealing with her emotions, but her role as Fanny in Funny Girl turned her into a brand new woman. Well, not completely. She hadn't dated since Finn's death, but that was mainly because she didn't want to lose anyone again. Finn was her one and only.

Upon making sure that the living area and kitchen were spotless, she headed to her room to clean it up as well and lay down to read for a bit to kill some time. After crying to herself at the end of Fragments, she looked at the clock and saw that the time was going to be 2:00 and the movers were going to be at the loft soon.

Going to the kitchen to make sure she had enough food for dinner, the movers knocked on the door and she graciously let them in and pointed them towards the room in the back that would be Lucy's. Once checking the refrigerator and cabinets, she noticed that she needed to pick up a few items from the store, so she hastily wrote a note for Lucy and ran out the door to go pick up the items.

The store was fairly busy when she walked in, so she quickly grabbed a basket and ran to the dairy section for her new non-vegan roommate. She placed some eggs and milk into the basket, not wanting to push someone into her vegan diet, and she also decided to invest in some popcorn and ice cream for any possible movie nights that might come up in the future. Walking up to front, she saw that all of the lines were now very long and checked her watch for the time. It was already going to be 2:45 which meant that she was already starting to push the 45 minute time slot she had given herself.

She bounced on her legs and tried not to seem too annoyed at the level of incompetence that was surrounding her. There was no reason why each of the 8 lines had to be this long. Most of the people didn't even have a lot of groceries. Weren't the employees doing their job?

It was finally her turn and she was ready to get out of the store. The checker took the largest amount of time possible to check her items and she messed up several times keying in her code before Rachel finally got the total.

"Um, that'll be $12.63."

Rachel handed her a 20 and scowled when the checker told her she had to wait for some change to come. She looked at her watch again. She had spent about 15 minutes in the damn line and it was going to take her at least another 15 to walk to the loft with all of the groceries. Rachel was never late.

She made it back to the loft in one piece and rushed to the kitchen to put away the groceries listening for any sound from Lucy. She heard music that vaguely sounded like Hilary Duff and she walked towards the back room to see if her roommate was in there. She passed by her room and stopped when she saw that her door was open. Quietly peering in from the frame, she stopped when she saw the familiar blonde head and flawless form of the last person that she ever thought she would see again.

Suddenly it all made sense. Her mom's name was Judy, her name was Lucy. No, it couldn't be her. She watched as the blonde started shaking her head back and forth and almost tripped walking backwards to the door.

"Quinn?" The blonde stopped dead in her tracks and there was visible clenching in her shoulders. Rachel walked closer and lightly put a hand on her shoulder. "Quinn is that you?"

As soon as she made contact, the girl flinched and quickly turned around. Startled hazel eyes bore into her own and Rachel held her breath as her mind was assaulted by the memories that came with the first view of Quinn in the last 3 years.

The blonde licked her lips, "Rachel?"

* * *

_**Reviews are encouraged and greatly appreciated. Thank you! Oh and quick question. **_

_**I know I said Santana was soul searching, but I don't know if I want to do Brittana or Dantana.**_

_** Let me know!**_


	2. Chapter 2

Quinn POV

She didn't know what to say, but was surprised when the brunette's name slipped out of her mouth. She had gone over the plan in her head so many times before. If she saw her, she was supposed to smile and nod, not talk! Pent up feelings from the last four years were swirling around in her head, and she had no idea what to do with them. Regret was the strongest. Knowing that Rachel had to go through Finn's death on her own and seeing how differently she looked now.

She was thinner and looked fragile, like she would break if she was even pushed a little too aggressively. She was still the same height as she was before, but she didn't look the same. Her eyes still held the Rachel Berry determination in them, but there was something else in them as well. The brown eyes looked apprehensive. Maybe it was because they hadn't seen each other in so long, but Quinn really wanted to hug the girl even though she hadn't kept in touch like she had promised at the end of their senior year. She wanted to hug her and cry to her about how sorry she was for disregarding their tentative friendship and leaving as if it hadn't meant anything to her.

Their friendship meant more to Quinn than she was willing to admit at the moment. If it wasn't for Rachel, she would have never gone to Yale. She would be stuck in Lima right now if it wasn't for the pint-sized diva standing in front of her. She made a decision in that instant that she would do whatever it took to gain back the lost friendship even though she was the one to destroy it in the first place.

A note. A simple note with her condolences would have sufficed, but she couldn't even do that because she was so wrapped up with finding herself. Rachel, the selfless girl who had never given up on Quinn had been tossed aside all those years ago.

Why didn't she realize it before? Maybe this was the reason she decided to come to New York. She knew that she would see Rachel one day, didn't she? Maybe somewhere deep inside her subconscious knew that she needed to come back to make things right. Perhaps this was going to be the last step in getting her act together to finally be the person she wanted to be.

"Quinn?" Rachel said her name softer this time. "Quinn is that really you? I've had this dream before. I'll find you here in my apartment and you'll tell me how sorry you are and how you wished you had been here. Please tell me this is a dream."

Quinn shook her head and cleared her throat, "No I'm very much here in the flesh." She shuffled in the other direction nervously, "So I guess your uncle's married to my mom, huh?"

Did she really just say that? Rachel had just practically begged for an apology and she blew her off again.

Rachel mouth gaped slightly open at what Quinn assumed to be the changing of the subject. She flinched internally at the pain that now shone in her eyes, but then Rachel seemed to break it off.

"It certainly appears that way, Lucy Quinn Fabray."

Quinn chuckled nervously, "You've got that right, RB."

Both girls shuffled awkwardly and looked at the ground at their feet. Quinn squinted her eyes, thinking of something, anything she could say to get her out of the tense situation. She wasn't prepared to meet Rachel so early in her time now. She kind of didn't have a choice now though. They were going to be living together after all. She needed to get her shit together.

"So…" Quinn motioned towards the trophy case, "It looks like you've accomplished a lot since we last spoke." She tried to diffuse the tension with a half smile.

Rachel didn't even seem fazed by the comment. "Yes," she began, "I've has a quite a bit of time to devote more attention to my career in the last few years."

Quinn winced at what she was implying. With Finn gone, she could pour all of her being into her work. She knew exactly how Rachel felt. That's what she had done when she had gotten pregnant and got kicked out of her house. When you have nothing left to lose, you put all you can into one thing so you feel as if you're worth something. Hers had been school. Rachel's had obviously been Broadway, based on the amount of awards in the case.

Quinn looked over the case once more and her eyes came to rest on the Tony in the middle. Her eyes widened and she got excited how did she miss them before? "You won a Tony? Rachel congratulations! Why don't you have it in the living area?"

Rachel shrugged, "I want people to see me for me, not some trophy."

She thought about it for a second. Broadway had always been such a big part of Rachel's life, during high school Rachel had no qualms about showing off her talents.

Rachel seemed to read Quinn's discussion in her mind, "I'm not the same person as I was before, Quinn. I enjoy my personal life a little more now. You never know what you might miss out on."

Quinn nodded and looked at the floor once more, trying to develop a plan to escape from Rachel's room without hurting her feelings or putting her off. This was too serious a conversation to be having right now. They would need to talk about it in the future, but she was really tired from her drive from New Haven and she kind of wanted to change into something a little more comfortable before getting into another conversation with Rachel. The brunette read her mind once again.

"Oh," Rachel put a hand on her chest. "You must be as uncomfortable as I am right now. Why don't we change and meet in the kitchen? I was just at the grocery store. I noticed that I didn't have anything for non-vegans in the loft and I didn't know if you would be hungry or not. Maybe if I had known it was you I would've gotten bacon too. I remember how you used to go on and on about it in high school…"

She trailed off and Quinn felt like she wanted to cry. Had Rachel really remembered something so trivial from the past? This girl was amazing and she was going to do her best to make this whole roommate thing work. She walked up to Rachel and put her hand on her shoulder and squeezed it reassuringly. "I'd love to do that, Rachel."

"Yeah?" Rachel looked up and gave a hopeful half smile.

"Yeah," Quinn nodded and bit her lip.

A few short moments passed Rachel's smile got bigger as hazel locked on brown and she stood up straighter, " Yes, well, let's get changed then and I'll meet you in a few."

Quinn smiled, squeezed her shoulder once more and excused herself from the room. She walked to her room, shut the door and leaned back into it, taking a deep breath. That wasn't so bad, was it? No, not at all. She just made a split decision to be the best friend to Rachel Berry without thinking about if she was even in the place to fix something so far back in her past. Rachel clearly wasn't the same obnoxious diva that she was before. She seemed aware of rambling now and was still amazingly talented. The girl had a freaking Tony! And if Quinn's math was correct, then she was about 23, which meant she still had plenty of time to win more left in her.

You're the not the same person you were back then either, she had to remind herself. You're not the bitch you were in the middle and you're not the emotionless drone you were in freshman year either. You've changed too. You can be her friend now without being completely selfish. You've grown up to.

After completing her short pep talk, she changed in favor of a pair of sweats and an old Yale t-shirt and walked to the kitchen, ready to make everything right once and for all.

Rachel POV

As soon as Quinn disappeared down the hall, Rachel threw herself on the bed and screamed into her pillow.

As soon as she saw Quinn, all she was able to see was the tall quarterback standing right next to her. She saw Finn standing up for her at Junior Prom when Jesse was all over her. She saw her amazing fiancé leading their glee club to nationals. She felt him there with her, like the night of Mr. Shue's wedding. It had all been too much, but for some strange reason she was able to get through it.

After 3 years of not willing herself to even think about Finn Hudson, Quinn was thrown back into her life without her being ready to face her past. Santana and Kurt had tried their best to get her to talk more about Finn and accept his death, but she had always protested against it, saying that she needed to focus on her life in that moment rather than her past. That's the real reason she was able to win a Tony.

She rolled back over and snuggled into her body pillow. Quinn seemed different from what she remembered. It had only been a few years, but that time seemed to make Quinn slightly nervous. Or maybe not nervous, but the blonde had surely left the bitchy attitude she had held on for so long, go. The Quinn that she remembered never spent that large of an amount of time devoted to what was on the floor rather than looking into the eyes of who she was talking too. Rachel always remembered Quinn to be fierce, ruthless, and confident. Quinn now seemed to still have her confidence, but she wasn't as forward about it.

Whatever. She was in no place to judge Quinn's personality after all these years. They had both matured, and now that they were roommates, that would give them more than enough time to learn about each other.

Rachel rolled out of bed and changed into a tank and some shorts, now feeling more comfortable, but also a tad exposed as well. She ignored the exposed feeling and attributed it to nerves. She was going to keep a clear and calm head about this whole thing and let Quinn start over fresh. That was the only way that they were going to be able to move forward from their past.

Once in the kitchen, she placed her iPhone on the dock and turned on some music for comfort. When Sara Barielles came crooning out of the speaker, she finally felt at ease as she poured herself a glass of water and sat down on a stool at the grey marble island in the middle of the kitchen. She was singing along to City when she heard Quinn coming down the hall.

"Sara Barielles?" The blonde came walking in holding onto the arm in front of her and sat down on the stool opposite her.

"Yeah," Rachel grinned. "She's an amazing singer and pianist. She sings with so much soul. She's amazing."

Quinn laughed, "You're pretty good too Miss Tony Award."

Rachel laughed along. "While that may be, I cannot hold a candle to Sara. The girl is simply breathtaking."

"You're pretty hot yourself, Miss Berry," Quinn winked at her.

Rachel laughed loudly this time and let out her first real smile at Quinn. The returning smile she got from Quinn was so amazing that she knew she was going to have to smile at Quinn more often it meant she would get to see it again.

Quinn seemed very playful and light, and Rachel found herself feeling very comfortable with her. "Like you're one to talk, Miss Fabray," Rachel said leaning her head towards the girl in front of her."

"Yeah, well we all know that," Quinn joked along, and this time the girls lost themselves in a fit of giggles.

Rachel was clutching at her stomach and trying to regain her breathing, "You are too much Quinn Fabray."

Quinn nodded and brushed her hair out of her eyes, "Well you better get used to it Berry."

The girls had a moment of silence where they appraised each other. Rachel took a good look at Quinn for the first time that day. Quinn was still just as beautiful as she remembered. Her hair was slightly longer than it had been their senior year, but it was choppy and layered to give it that same wild look she had during her punk period. She was wearing a loose shirt and sweats, and Rachel noted that that was the most comfortable she had ever seen Quinn. She was so used to seeing Quinn in dresses that she didn't even think that Quinn owned any type of pant. Quinn's appearance was relaxing, and she looked at peace with herself.

"So," she began, "how have you been?"

Quinn exhaled and looked down again. "I've been good. Ready to start living my own life I guess. You?"

"I've been okay. The last three years have been rather busy what with Funny Girl ad NYADA, but I've made it. What did you major in?"

"Well, it's a long story," Quinn chuckled and rubbed the back of her neck, "I originally wanted to major in English. For awhile I wanted to either teach or maybe even do something in publishing. I really love to read."

Rachel nodded along. She remembered always seeing Quinn with a book during school. She thought it was slightly hypocritical because she would make fun of the "nerds" even though she was one herself. She wasn't going to bring that up though.

"My professor was a pig though and once I ended things with him, I decided that I didn't want to do that anymore, so I switched to Drama."

Rachel's eyes widened and she looked at the blonde. "Quinn Fabray was into acting?"

"Oh yeah," Quinn agreed. "I was in a couple of plays too. Besides, I was always good at acting."Rachel looked at her curiously. Quinn understood that Rachel wanted her to elaborate. "High School, or Bitch Time as I like to call it, was my first acting experience. I never wanted to be the person I was during that time."

Rachel could see that this was a heavy topic for Quinn, as it was for her, so she put her hand above Quinn's and squeezed. "I'll forgive you your past if you forgive me mine?"

Rachel hadn't seen that Quinn was on the verge of tears, but when she saw a few roll down the blonde's cheek she knew for sure that Quinn had changed.

Quinn hurriedly wiped away the tears and let out a slightly shaky breath, "Anyways… I realized that wasn't for me either and that was when I found a camera." Quinn smiled that big grin once more and squeezed Rachel's hand. "I immediately fell in love with photography and capturing all that life had to offer around me. And now here I am, a brand new photography major fresh out of Yale." She gestured to her Yale shirt and moved the hair out of her face once more.

"So, why New York?" Rachel questioned.

"Well my mom just got married, as you know, and she said that Eric had a niece who was looking for a new roommate." She gave Rachel a knowing look and Rachel could feel her cheeks heat up slightly. "I'm fresh out of college and don't really have any major plans, so I thought I'd take a risk. New York is filled with different cultures and job opportunities. It was an offer I couldn't refuse."

"How do you feel about your mom marrying my uncle?"

Quinn seemed to think about this one for a bit. "I'm happy that she's happy. I'm happy that she's happy with Eric. I'm happy that I haven't seen my mom pick up a glass in a very long time. I'm just happy for her. Eric is a wonderful man and he seems to love my mom very much, which is all I can really ask for. I can only hope to find someone to make me as happy as Eric seems to make my mom."

"Your mother is going to be so spoiled, "Rachel teased.

"Oh, I have no doubt about that," Quinn groaned. "My mother loves to be pampered, but make no mistake. My mother is in love with your uncle. It's sickeningly sweet." The blonde ended with sticking her tongue out and pretending to gag.

Rachel looked down at their still joined hands and couldn't help the amount of joy that overcame her. If she had known that Quinn was this amazing, she would have tried to befriend her earlier in life. Not that she didn't try, but still. She wouldn't have given up so easily if she had known.

"What about you, Rach?" Quinn interrupted her thoughts. "What's happened with you?"

Rachel kept her eyes on their hands and tried to come up with something to say. "Well the first year was hard."

Quinn knew she was talking about Finn and tried to apologize. "Rachel, I'm so sorry I never-"

"Don't worry about it. What's done is done. The important thing is that we have this time now." Quinn shut her mouth and nodded, so Rachel continued. "I made it through the first year with help from Kurt and Santana. I don't know if you kept in touch with her?"

Quinn shook her head no.

"Well, she's doing well. She and Brittany broke up and shortly after she met this girl named Dani that we all worked with. Dani was a good change for San, she was someone that San needed at the time. Dani ended up moving, but I think they've kept in touch. San's actually the reason why I was in need of a roommate. I think she was going to meet up with Dani somewhere and they were going to do 'soul searching' together. Kurt's also doing well. He and Blaine are still engaged. They wanted to wait until Blaine finished college to get married. Blaine is at NYADA. I haven't heard much from anyone else though."

"How have you been doing since then?" Quinn started rubbing circles on the back of her hand soothingly."

"I've been okay, busy with taking over Broadway," she tried to joke.

Quinn saw right through it and Rachel sighed at the look she was given.

"I'm okay," she reassured, "Every day is better than the one before, and I know it's been a long time, but I'll get there."

"You don't have to be so strong," Quinn whispered. "I can be here now like I should've, okay?"

Tears escaped Rachel and Quinn got up and went around the island to give her a hug. Rachel put her arms around Quinn's waist and sobbed as she felt Quinn rubbing her back and tightening her hold around her neck, making the hug stronger. She was whispering in Rachel's ear that everything was going to be okay and they would figure things out together.

After a short time had passed, Rachel's sobs had finally ended and Quinn released her, looking down at her with red, teary, hazel eyes.

"I'm so sorry," Rachel said while rubbing her eyes, "I didn't mean to do that. I haven't done that in a really long time."

"Don't worry about it," Quinn spoke softly.

"I got you all gross," she said pointing to the wet spot on Quinn's shirt as she wiped her nose on a napkin.

Quinn cupped her cheek and rubbed her thumb across her cheek bone. "It's the least I can do, Rach."

They hugged once more until Quinn backed away after rubbing her back with a smile. She sat back down on the stool, "So… what now?"

Rachel laughed, "Are you hungry?"

"I think I'd like to put away my stuff first. How about after?"

"Sounds good to me."

They both got up and walked to their respective rooms.

"You'll be okay, right?" Quinn stood at the inside of her door with her hand on the frame as she asked Rachel. She had such a caring look on her face and it made Rachel want to cry again. She hadn't been able to talk about Finn for the past 3 years, but she felt like she might be doing a lot of it soon. She didn't know if this was good or not, it was certainly progress.

"I think I'll be okay," Rachel said more to herself than the blonde.

Quinn nodded to her and they both disappeared into their rooms.

_**Questions? Comments? Concerns? Please let me know what you think. I don't know if you guys like this or not. **_

_**How did you like the Faberry interaction? Do you guys want anything to happen during dinner tonight? I know there will be wine involved. **_

_**Let me know.**_


	3. Chapter 3

Quinn POV

Once back in her room, Quinn began to unload the boxes from her move. As she took out the contents from the first box, she wondered what the tiny diva was up to. That had barely just left each other's company, but she'd be lying if she said that she didn't miss her already. Things with Rachel felt different than they ever had before. Their conversation flowed easily and she was able to joke around with her and not be her normally serious self.

She thought back to how they had held hands over the table during their conversation. It seemed so natural, so right. She hadn't had that type of contact with another person since she was in high school. Once in college, she had many friends and her roommates were always there, but they respected her privacy and rarely ever sought out physical contact from her. She had known them for four years, and they had probably hugged a total of ten times.

Quinn laughed to herself, "Well, Fabray, that's what you get for being such a bitch."

Once she had emptied the contents of the first box onto her bed, she looked at the rest of the four boxes on the floor. She was going to need some help.

Walking out of her room, she padded over to Rachel's and knocked softly on the door.

"It's open!"

"Hey, Rach," she opened the door slightly and peered in at Rachel, who was sitting cross-legged on the floor with her phone, "I was wondering if you would like to help me with my boxes. I feel like it'll take forever if I do it by myself. Care to join me?"

"Sure!" Rachel said happily, and she jumped up to follow Quinn out of the room.

"I hope I'm not taking too much of your time," Quinn felt she needed to say.

"Oh, hush Quinn. Don't worry about it. I was just playing Dots on my phone anyways. So, where do we begin?"

Quinn turned and looked at the set up of her room. Off to the far right corner, was the frame of her full sized bed with the mattress. The room was actually pretty big and her furniture was able to fit in it comfortable with still enough wiggle room left over. How Rachel came upon this place amazed her. The two windows overlooking the garden were on the left side, and her small desk and bookshelf were next to one of the windows. Her nightstand, with an antique looking gold lamp, was to the left of her bed, and all of her furniture was a rich, dark mahogany, the only exception being the wrought iron bed frame.

"Well, I like where the movers put everything. I just need to take it all out," she said pointing to the four boxes in the middle of the room."

Rachel's vision focused on the four very large boxes in the middle of the room and her eyes widened comically. "Quinn, those boxes are huge. What did you put in there? Your whole entire existence?!"

"Hey! It's not even a lot!" Quinn countered. "One box has my quilt and pillows, and the other has my computer stuff, pictures, and other various items."

"What about the other two," Rachel questioned while looking at the blonde's defensive stance and incredulous look, trying not to burst out laughing at her dramatics.

"Don't worry about those. I can do the other two by myself…"

Rachel instantly became interested at her dismissal and walked towards the boxes. "What are you hiding, Fabray?"

Quinn rushed over to the boxes to block them from her. "Nothing is in them! I'll do it by myself!"

Rachel quirked an eyebrow, "Come on, show me!" The brunette tried to run around to the other side, but she cut her off.

"Rachel, no!"She laughed at Rachel's attempt to run around her and shook her head at how demanding the diva still was.

Rachel sighed, "Okay, I'm sorry I tried to outsmart you." She put her head down and pouted.

Quinn immediately felt terrible as she took in the diva's gloomy features. She stepped away from the boxes and began to walk towards her, "Hey, Rach I didn't mean to-"

"Gotcha!" Rachel pushed her to the side and she yelped as she landed on the side of her mattress. That sneaky little…

Rachel opened the box triumphantly and gasped at what was in the box. Quinn groaned and put her face into the mattress. This was not going to be good.

"Well, I'll be. Lucy Quinn Fabray is a closet freak."

Quinn groaned again and looked at the diva, who had the biggest grin on her face. "It's not that bad, Rachel."

"Hey, I never said it was," Rachel said giggling. "It's just hard to wrap around my mind. Who knew that the former president of the celibacy club was so... kinky?"

"Rachel!" Quinn whined.

"Quinn!" Rachel mocked back. "It's quite alright, I completely understand. It's normal for young women to explore their sexuality, and seeing that you've done so makes me want to do the same."

"Rachel!" Quinn was panicking inside her head. She really hoped that Rachel wasn't looking at what she thought she was.

Rachel scoffed at the blonde's theatrics. "Seriously, Quinn they're just books. It's nothing to be ashamed of. Tons of women have read 50 Shades of Grey."

Wait what? Quinn realized that Rachel was talking about the 50 Shades Trilogy stacked at the top and she silently did a jig in her head. Thank God that was what Rachel had found.

"I've read the trilogy, too. So now you have nothing to be embarrassed about." Rachel gave her a smile and patted the box reassuringly.

Just then, right after the last pat, a vibrating noise began to come from the inside of the box.

Now Quinn was really dead. Her face fell back into the mattress. She could hear Rachel take the books out of the box to inspect where the noise was coming from, and then it was silent, the vibrating noise was all that could be heard.

Rachel cleared her throat, "I stand corrected."

"Rachel, I am so sorry."

"It's um… um… it's quite alright. Just um. Do you maybe want to turn it off? I don't know if you're comfortable with me touching your uh… vi-"

"Please don't say it," Quinn interrupted. "I can't even look at you I'm so embarrassed."

"Ok… I'll slide the box over to you."

The box was handed over and Quinn blushed when she saw the vibrator in the box shaking all its contents. She reached in the box and took it out to take out the batteries that she thought she had removed before the move.

"Purple is a very nice color, Quinn."

Quinn's eyes snapped up to Rachel and she couldn't stop the hysterical laugh that bubbled out from her when she saw just how embarrassed the brunette was too.

Rachel started laughing along with her and pretty soon they were both clutching at their stomachs, trying to ease the pain in their abs.

"Dear Lord," Quinn sighed once she caught her breath, "this is turning out to be quite an interesting day." She ran her fingers through her blonde locks and smiled over at Rachel who was looking at her with mirth in her eyes.

"Oh, Quinn. I think every day will be quite interesting. It's us we're talking about."

Quinn nodded and spent time looking at the brunette. Rachel was a very beautiful girl, and she didn't know why she had spent so much time trying to convince her otherwise. Her hair was up in a ponytail and her cheeks were still flushed from all the laughing they had done. She was smiling at her as if they had never stopped talking to each and had the strongest friendship known to man. Finn was a very lucky man to have had her love for the brief amount of time that he did. There was no doubt in her mind that Rachel and Finn would have lived to be very happy together. Finn was who she needed to keep her grounded. She frowned as she thought about how unfair life was sometimes.

"What's wrong?" Rachel whispered and crawled over to Quinn to wipe away a tear that she didn't even know had fallen.

"I'm so sorry." Her voice was shaking. "You didn't deserve any of this, Rachel. You only deserve the best. I'm sorry."

Rachel sniffled, "I know. It sucks. It really does, but I have to try to move on now. You'll help me won't you? You'll help me remember who he was and help me find happiness? Please say you'll be here for me."

Quinn hugged her tight for the second time that day. "I'm not going anywhere, Rachel. I'm not going anywhere."

They released each other again with a shuddering breath. "Damn you, Berry. I haven't cried this much since pregnancy."

Rachel chuckled, "Well, how we went from laughing about vibrators to crying about Finn is beyond me. I blame this one on you."

Quinn hit her playfully, "You weren't supposed to say that word."

The brunette cocked her brow again and smiled slyly, "Which word? Vibrator?"

"Rachel!"

"Quinn!"

They smiled brightly at each other and looked into each other's eyes for a few seconds. Rachel patted Quinn's thighs and stood up. "Come on, Fabray. I'm getting hungry and we need to unpack. Let's git-r-done."

Quinn stood up and pushed her lightly, laughing again, "Only if you promise to never say that ever again."

"You got it chick!"

Quinn's room was fully unpacked in no time, the girls deciding to put all of Sara Barielles albums on shuffle because they both loved her music and voice. Each of her 75 books were placed in alphabetical order while singing about bitches and assholes, the 50 Shades trilogy displayed under a small light located at the top of the bookshelf. Her bed was made and then messed up when they jumped on it while singing Brave and Quinn's laptop was set up in under 2 minutes just so they could see her sing Gravity live on YouTube.

Quinn laid there in happy silence as Rachel hung up some spare white Christmas lights in her room and then made her way to the bed to lie next to her on the bed. The silence was comfortable as they looked up at the Robert Pattinson poster that Rachel proclaimed needed to be hung up on the ceiling so that Quinn could wake up to his beautiful face every single day.

Quinn had only allowed it to happen because the walls were brick and she didn't have any other reasonable place to put besides the inside of her bathroom. And even though she loved R Patz, there was no way that she was going to let him stare at her while she peed.

"Thanks for helping me organize my room."

"It's really no problem, Quinn. I didn't have any other plans today because I left my time open for the move anyways. It was a lot of fun. Singing with you and cleaning." Quinn nodded her head. "Are you getting hungry?"

Quinn's stomach rumbled in reply and she laughed. "Yeah I think I am."

Rachel turned her head so that she was looking at Quinn laying next to her, brown looking into hazel. "I'll take that as a yes. Come on, let's get up."

Rachel rolled over Quinn to get off the bed and Quinn had to wrap her arms around the brunette's hips when they both began to fall off the bed, causing Rachel to be pulled flush against her. They both shrieked and Rachel ended up straddling the blonde's waist to steady them again, both her arms on either side of Quinn's head. They looked into each other's eyes for a few seconds before Quinn spoke.

Quinn quirked her eyebrow and smirked, "You know Berry if you wanted some of this, all you had to do is ask."

Rachel's cheeks flushed red until Quinn started giggling from the shocked look on her face. Rachel scowled and pushed Quinn down on the bed before getting off of her. "You wish Fabray!" She walked out of the room playfully swaying her hips back and forth while Quinn teasingly wolf whistled and whooped behind her.

Quinn laid back down to catch her breath and thought back to the past few hours. If she had known that being Rachel's friend was this great, then she would've done it a long time ago. It was really fun to let loose and dance and sing at the top of her lungs. She hadn't sung like that since high school, and being able to do it again was really refreshing. She really did enjoy glee club, and it was pretty much one of the only things she missed about it. Well that and Beth, but she still wasn't able to confront that part of her life yet. She hadn't seen or heard from Shelby since she left Lima. She wondered every day how her daughter was doing, but she never had the courage to actually find out.

Oh well, maybe being with Rachel would change that. Shelby was Rachel's mom after all. Maybe they kept in touch. She would have to ask Rachel later.

Thinking back to the vibrator debacle earlier in the day and smiled to herself when she remembered how Rachel had made fun of her because of it. She would have to come up with some sort of plan to get her back for that. She seemed to be doing a good enough job of teasing Rachel with sexual innuendos during the night. Maybe she could up that a bit to see how far she could push Rachel until the diva was embarrassed like she had been. Rachel had proven to be a worthy feat when she blew off her comment about "wanting some".

She and Santana had done that to each other at Mr. Shue's failed wedding. Maybe that wasn't a good example… They had hooked up after the wedding, but that was only a one-time thing. She didn't want to do anything like that with Rachel. It was the first time seeing Rachel after three years. They were becoming real friends now. Besides, that was the only time she was ever going to do something like that.

"Quinn, hurry up or I'm only getting vegan pizza!"

"I'm coming!"

_Rachel POV_

It was safe to say that Quinn Fabray was now a really good friend and on her way to becoming her best friend. She thought it was funny how she managed to befriend the two cheerleaders that tortured her in high school once she was out of the place. She had never thought she would be friends with Santana, but when the Latina showed up in New York with nowhere to stay, she couldn't leave her on the streets. That turned out to be one of the best things she had ever done. Santana was the one that helped her get rid of Brody and was an excellent motivator and support system.

After crying with Quinn in the kitchen this afternoon, she really thought that things were going to be awkward for awhile, but the evening they just had proved differently. It turned that she had a quite a bit in common with Quinn. Books and music especially, or maybe just the arts in general. The box that held pictures was her favorite. Well, besides the one with the vibrator that made Quinn turn a deep pink that made her want to clutch her stomach and never stop laughing. Back to the pictures, it was really obvious that Quinn had both the knack and passion for photography.

Her pictures were all so different, but you could tell that they were well thought out and captured. She had pictures of old men in suits playing chess, children riding bikes down a cobbled street, and the changing sunset over the horizon. It was easy to see that Quinn thought very deeply about everything around her, and it was surprising that this was the woman she had turned into.

They joked around and teased each other all afternoon, and it was nice to lay back and enjoy comfortable silence with a friend. She had been by herself for quite a few months and was so happy that Quinn was now here with her. The blonde was with her. She was willing to put everything she had into a friendship with Rachel. Needless to say, Rachel was excited that she would get another chance to befriend Quinn like she had always wanted.

She heard the blonde coming down the hall so she picked up her phone and pretended to be finishing up her order.

"Yes, vegan pizza. Thank you. Yes that'll be all. Goodbye."

Quinn heard the last of the call and huffed adorably, "You ordered without me?"

Rachel shrugged her shoulders, "You were taking forever."

"I took, like 30 seconds!"

"That is 30 seconds too long."

"Rachel!"

Quinn pouted and Rachel wanted to hug her for how cute she was being. "Relax, I'm just kidding Fabray. What kind of pizza would you like?"

"Can I get meat lovers?"

Rachel rolled her eyes. "We can get half vegan, half meat lovers. How does that sound?"

"Perfect!" Quinn grinned. "Thanks Rach!"

"You're welcome. Now don't say I never did anything for you."

"You got it, Berry." Quinn nodded very seriously.

Rachel sent Quinn into the living room to find a movie. Once the order was placed, she walked in to find deliberating between two movies.

"It'll be about 20 minutes," she said throwing herself onto the couch. "Did you decide on one yet?"

"Well," Quinn began, "I know you like Funny Girl, but you have Pride and Prejudice with Kiera Knightly and I haven't seen it in forever. We can watch Funny Girl. I don't know if you're busy tomorrow or not so I can watch Pride and Prejudice tomorrow."

Rachel got a warm feeling in her heart at how caring Quinn was being. "Actually I don't work tomorrow either, so we can watch both."

"Really?" Quinn's face lit up.

"Sure thing. We can watch Pride and Prejudice first and Funny Girl afterwards. Save the best for last," she smirked.

Quinn scoffed, "Whatever you say, Fanny."

Quinn slipped in the movie and settled opposite Rachel on the couch, laying her legs across and on her lap. Rachel smiled when she heard Quinn humming the introduction song to herself. The blonde knew all the pitches and hummed very accurately for someone who hadn't seen the movie in such a long time. Shortly after, Quinn started saying all the lines with the characters too.

"Quinn?"

"Yeah Rach"

"When did you say you last saw the movie?"

The blonde stopped humming. "I didn't."

"Well, you said it's been a long time right."

"Yes… No…Not exactly."

"So when did you last see it?"

"About two days ago…."

"Quinn!"

"What?"

"You said it had been forever!"

"Two days is a long time to go without having a little Mr. Darcy in your life, Rach."

"Sure… Nerd."

"What'd you call me?"

"A nerd."

"I'm not a nerd."

"Sure you're not, Quinn."

"Take it back." The blonde sat up and looked at Rachel with a predatory glare.

"No I don't think I will." Rachel pretended to be interested in her fingernails.

Quinn shifted to face her more and Rachel had to bite her lip to stifle a laugh. Quinn looked like she was ready to throw down. "Take it back, Berry."

"Nope."

All of a sudden, Quinn pounced on her and started tickling the sides of her ribs. "Take it back, Rachel!"

"Never!" The girls were squealing and giggling as the wrestled around with each other on the couch and Quinn tried to get Rachel to take back calling her a nerd. This went on for a few minutes before they were interrupted by the doorbell.

Calling a ceasefire, Rachel rushed to the door with Quinn trailing behind to go pay for the pizza. The delivery boy took in their disheveled clothes and wild hair and gulped as he tried to keep his thoughts pure. All the giggling he had heard and actually seeing the two beautiful women in front of him was not good.

Quinn saw that the boy was blushing furiously, so as Rachel walked away with the box she winked at him for good measure and laughed as he ran away down the hall.

They settled back down with their pizza and drinks and pleasantly watched the rest of the movie, fawning over Mr. Darcy and Mr. Bingley and vowing to kill Wickham if he ever showed his face again.

Rachel spent the remainder of the movie watching the scene, but also making sure to keep watch on Quinn from the corner of her eye. Quinn proved to know the whole script and Rachel had to admit that this was not nerdy at all, rather it was quite the accomplishment and would come in handy during a trivia game in the future.

Before putting in Funny Girl, they went to the kitchen to throw away their trash and refill their drinks.

"This has been a lot of fun, Quinn."

"Yeah?" Quinn asked with a smile on her face. "I've had a lot of fun too. My roommates in college weren't nearly as awesome as you or San and Brittany during high school. I mostly kept them around because they were reliable and paid their share of the rent on time."

Rachel frowned, "You weren't friends with your roommates?"

"Not really," Quinn said, sitting down on a chair, "We would talk sometimes, but we weren't friends like we are." She said the last part gesturing between the both of them.

Rachel's heart fluttered. "We're friends?"

"Well, yeah." Quinn gave her a look like she was crazy. "You think I make a fool of myself in front of just anyone?"

She grinned, "Well, when you put it that way-"

Quinn cut her off, "You know what I mean, Rach."

The blonde was genuinely smiling at her, so Rachel knew she wasn't kidding. "Yeah, we're friends, Quinn."

"Good," Quinn nodded to herself, "because if this is what being your friend is like, then I couldn't ask for anything better."

Rachel felt her cheeks heat at the sincerity in the blonde's voice and looked down, "I'm glad we've established this."

"Me too, Berry."

They smiled at each other once more and Rachel patted Quinn's shoulder, "Come on, let's go see a real movie now.

Quinn rolled her eyes but got up anyways to go claim her spot on the couch. Once they were both settled in, Rachel pressed play and they watched in comfortable silence the perfection that is Barbra Streisand. Quinn tried to make fun of her for singing along to the movie, but Rachel quickly put her in her place by reminding her that she was in the presence of a Tony award winner. Quinn bowed down for dramatic effect.

"You know, this is my first time seeing Funny Girl, "Quinn said at some point during the movie. "It's actually pretty good."

Rachel had to forcibly close her gaping mouth and shook her head in mock pity, "America's youth..."

"Youth? You're 2 months older than I am!"

Rachel shushed her and they continued to watch the movie. This was the most comfortable Rachel had been with another person in a very long time. So used to being defensive and cautious, it was nice to be the person she once was. Not the high school diva that everyone thought she was, but Rachel Berry. The daughter of the Berry men that won every game of Scrabble on family game night because of the extensive vocabulary she had due to the amount of novels she read. She hadn't pulled out any SAT words in a long time because she felt that it would take time away from experiencing life, but now she was starting to be reminded that the words added color and vibrancy to life rather than dulling it down for a spare moment.

Once the movie was over, she and Quinn cleaned up their mess in the living room once more and made their way to their rooms like they had earlier in the day.

Quinn stopped at her frame and looked back like she had before. "Thanks again for all your help, Rachel. This was one of the best days that I've had in a very long time. I'm glad you're the girl who just so happened to be my roommate."

"It's really no problem at all Quinn. Anytime you need something, don't be afraid to ask. I'm also very glad that you're the infamous Lucy I had heard so much about. Maybe tomorrow we can explore the city?"

"That sounds great, Rach." Quinn smiled softly at her. "I'll see you in the morning. Night."

"Goodnight Quinn."

They both went into their rooms and Rachel lay down in her bed, remembering that she didn't drink her nightly glass of water. She thought about going back to the kitchen to get one, but for the first time in a very long time, she decided that she didn't need it.

How did you guys like the Faberry? Do you think I'm rushing things? Not explaining enough? What would you like to see?

Let me know what you think! All the reviews are amazing. Thank you so much to all of you who do. It makes me want to give more to y'all. I'd also like to thank all of you who follow the story. We're already over 100 followers! Thanks again for all the support! Xoxo 


	4. Chapter 4

_**Hey guys! Sorry for the late posting, I've had a really busy week at school! All of your reviews, follow, and favorites have blown me out of the water! This is a bit of a filler with more Quinn than Rachel. I'm on the road for the holidays, so I'll try to post more soon. **__**I hope you enjoy :) **_

* * *

_Quinn POV_

"Come on, you jackass! Can't you see I'm walkin' here! Yeah, yeah. Fuck you too!"

Quinn didn't know what to do except to stand completely still with her mouth open. Rachel Berry cursed. Rachel Berry curses? Is that a thing? When did that become a thing? Why wasn't she notified about this? Maybe because you decided to stay out of her life for the past 3 years? Oh, yeah. Well, this is definitely something interesting.

"Quinn are you coming? Quinn!"

Rachel huffed and pulled her by the hand and led her across the cross walk to the park that was by the loft. Quinn could vaguely hear her mumbling about how she needed to get used to city life as quickly as possible.

They weaved through people and ended up making it to the other side of the street unscathed. She didn't even realize her mouth was still open and that Rachel was still holding her hand until the brunette giggled and poked her in the stomach. "What's the matter Quinn? Has our good little Christian girl never heard a curse word before?"

She knew Rachel was poking fun, but her mind instantly shot to all the times that her father had yelled at her while he was drunk, and she thanked the Lord for her mother having the sense to finally kick him out of the house.

She shook it off and laughed along with Rachel, "Well it's not everyday when one gets to hear Rachel Berry curse at a cab driver and see her flick them off." Quinn poked back at Rachel.

Rachel pushed her away and looked at her teasingly, "Well if you play your cards right, Fabray, I'm sure that's not the last time you'll ever hear me curse."

Quinn gulped and shook her head at the eyes that were shining with mirth. She pushed Rachel right back and raised her eyebrow with a smirk, "I'm sure I can handle it, Berry."

Rachel winked at her and they stood in an awkward silence for a moment. Quinn was just happy to be looking at Rachel. She couldn't understand why she had made fun of her so much in high school. Rachel was a very beautiful girl. True she wasn't the cookie cutter type of girl that she was, but she was beautiful nonetheless. She was seriously starting to consider asking Rachel to model for her sometime. With that thought, she picked up her camera and snapped a picture before Rachel had even known what happened.

"Hey, delete that!"

"Haha nope!"

"Quinn!"

Rachel reached for the camera, but Quinn held it up above head. Rachel huffed and stomped her foot, "Quinn that is not fair!"

"It's not my fault you're so short," Quinn smirked.

Rachel narrowed her eyes, "You win this time... Lucy."

"Don't call me that!"

"Lucy Lucy Lucy!"

"Rachel!"

"Yes, Lucy?"

"Fine, I'll delete it." Quinn quickly sent the picture to her laptop at home and deleted it after. "See, it's forever gone now."

Rachel smirked, "Damn straight you listen to me, Fabray. Now let's go eat!"

Quinn just shook her head and followed Rachel's lead through the park that led to a café that Rachel loved.

She snapped a few pictures here and there of the sights on the park that Rachel was pointing out to her. The park was so green, with trees that branched out over the cobblestone pathway. There were black wrought iron fences that enclosed fountains with benches for you to sit at. Quinn smiled as she took in all the life that was around her. The line at the hot dog stand at one corner seemed so normal, but meant something more to her. She couldn't help but feel amazed as she took in the form habits and occurrences of everyday life. This was why she loved photography. She loved the opportunities that allowed her to capture life in its purest form.

It was comical, yet beautiful how one of the men eating on the side of the cart had managed to miss his mouth and spill a large amount of relish and ketchup on the front of his shirt. She snapped a picture when his wife came in, scolding him for not being more careful. Upon further inspection, she got a picture of their two children behind them laughing at the scene in front of them.

Rachel cleared her throat, and Quinn ducked her head shyly once she realized that she had been staring at all the people in line.

"Sorry," she muttered, "I just loved the way it looked."

"Don't worry about it." Rachel moved some of her stray bangs behind her ear. "We're almost at the café, okay?"

"Okay."

Quinn smiled at Rachel's kindness. Normally when she was out with some of her friends and had a moment like this, they would yell at her and tell her to hurry up. She liked that Rachel was so understanding about how she got caught up in the moment.

She linked arms with Rachel and happily walked out of the park with her friend. She even smiled and waved at a blonde girl with pigtails who was coloring on the sidewalk next to her own brunette friend that was talking loudly. Quinn shook her head at the similarities between them and the younger girls. As she walked away, she kind of wished she had taken a picture.

* * *

_Rachel POV_

"How's your sandwich, Quinn?"

"This is actually really delicious, Rach. The bacon is amazing!"

Rachel took a drink of water to hide her smirk. The café they were at was all vegan.

"Would you say that it's the best bacon you've ever had?"

Quinn started chewing slowly and looked at her curiously. "I don't know. I haven't had bacon in a while, but it's certainly delicious. Why do you ask?"

"Oh no reason." Rachel dug into her pasta with an exaggerated moan of appreciation.

"Rachel..."

"Yes, Quinn?"

"Why do you ask," the blonde repeated her question with her usual raised eyebrow. Oh, boy. That had come out a lot lately.

Rachel frowned when Quinn put down her sandwich, so she decided to go ahead and tell the truth. "Quinn this café is vegan."

Quinn looked down at her sandwich and lifted the bread to get a better look at her bacon. "No it's not. Come on Rach, tell me the truth."

"I am telling you the truth Quinn. That right there," she pointed at the bacon the blonde was studying, "is vegan bacon."

Quinn's mouth opened. "No way."

"I'm completely serious. Here, look." She tapped a passing waiter on the shoulder, "Sir this café is vegan, correct?"

The man laughed, "Are you serious? You're Rachel Berry, of courses its vegan."

She patted the man on the back as he walked away.

"What was that?" Quinn looked incredulous.

"That was Steven. I believe he just started working here." She went back to eating her pasta.

Quinn refused to let the matter drop. "How did he know who you were?"

The question didn't faze her. "I'm a Tony award winner, Quinn."

Quinn huffed and slightly pouted, Rachel thought it was cute. "I realize this Rachel, but I'm still confused. If he knew you, why aren't there paparazzi following you everywhere?"

Quinn looked so concerned that Rachel couldn't help but laugh her. She threw her head back and clutched at her stomach. When she finally opened her teary eyes, Quinn was looking at her with an annoyed expression, and she couldn't help but laugh harder at that.

When she finally opened her eyes again, Quinn's expression hadn't changed. "Are you done yet?"

Rachel giggled but nodded and smoothed her napkin back across her lap after taking a large gulp of water. "I'm sorry Quinn, but do you want paparazzi to follow me so that I never have a normal life ever again?"

Quinn frowned, "You know that's not what I meant. I'm just curious as to why."

"Broadway isn't Hollywood. Paparazzi generally leave us alone unless we're at some sort of event or caught doing something very scandalous. I keep to myself, so there isn't a good amount of gossip about me."

"Why didn't you just say that?"

"Because laughing at you was fun."

Quinn huffed and resumed eating her sandwich. Rachel knew that she thought it was the best she had ever eaten.

* * *

_Quinn POV_

They had explored a little more after their lunch. Some of the small shops around the café were actually really cool. The old bookstore had to be her favorite. The inside had that gross old book smell that people don't usually like, but she and Rachel loved it. They looked through the bookcases together and Quinn did a happy dance when she found an old copy of _Fever, 1793_ by Laurie Halse Anderson.

Rachel hadn't heard of the author or the book, so she got to gush about how it was one of her favorites growing up. The story was about a young teenage girl living in Boston during the yellow fever in 1793. It was a coming of age tale told through diary format, and Quinn loved how it was full of suspense, action, history, and even a bit of romance. It was a really good read, and she was glad that she had found it.

They were currently laying on the couch while Rachel was trying to find something for them to watch on Netflix.

"What about_ Dance Moms_?_"_

Quinn shuddered, "I managed to escape Sue Sylvester. Why would I want to go back to something like that?"

"I thought you loved Cheerios?"

Quinn scoffed, "I hated Cheerios, I loved cheer."

"If you hated it so much, then why were you in it?"

Quinn looked over at Rachel who was speaking softly from the other end of the couch. She moved Rachel's feet to the top of her lap and started massaging her feet. She needed the distraction. "I stayed in Cheerios because it gave me power..."

"You had glee, Quinn. Weren't we good enough?"

Quinn massaged her feet a little harder and Rachel moaned in appreciation.

"That actually feels really good so don't stop. It would be really nice if you could answer me though.

Quinn hummed, "We've had a lot of deep conversations lately."

Rachel took her legs out of her lap and scooted over next to her. She felt her breath hitch when Rachel tilted her head up with her finger like she had earlier in the day.

"Do you not want to talk?"

Quinn thought about this, she wanted to talk, but she didn't want to do it all at once. "I don't want to be overwhelmed by all of it."

"Talk and I'll listen."

"Rachel, you don't know what it was like growing up in my family. There are certain expectations that must be met, ideals that must be displayed. I had to be the popular cheerleader that dated the athlete and picked on the people who weren't like me. There was no other choice for me. My father... When I didn't do what he want, he would get very angry with me."

"Did he ever-"

"No. No, he was just... insane. Once I got kicked out, I learned that not everything was supposed to be the way he wanted it. I learned that it was okay to mess up, as long as you learn from your mistakes and do better. I learned that people can love you unconditionally without wanting something in return. I learned that problems didn't have to be drowned out with alcohol the way my mom made them. I wanted to be better after that. You have to believe me when I say that."

She was looking desperately into Rachel's eyes at that point and clutching at her hands, as if she was about to fall into some pit that she would never be able to get out of.

Don't worry, Quinn." Rachel was rubbing her thumb across Quinn's knuckles. "I believe you. How did you get to be who you are today."

Quinn breathed out a laugh, "I was put completely out of my element. The people at Yale were smarter than I was, richer than I had been, I didn't know anyone. It was so simple for me to fade back instead of trying to be at the top, so I took the opportunity. I stayed to myself and tried to do good for myself instead of everyone else. I had a bit of a slip up my first year of course. Who doesn't have an identity crisis when you're on your own? You had your topless scene, I had the douchebag professor." Rachel blushed and ducked her head, so this time it was Quinn t tilt her head up. "Once I really stopped worry what others thought and completely dismissed my upbringing, that's when I was able to find my own values and morals that I believed in. I wanted to live life and see it happen instead of trying to strategically be a part of it. I came back in from the background and excelled without putting too much attention on myself. I did pretty well."

"Is that why you take pictures? Too capture life?"

"Yes." Quinn nodded her head with absolute sincerity. "Life if is very beautiful once you accept. To be honest, I've always admired you for that."

Rachel looked surprised. "You admired me?"

"Of course," Quinn brushed Rachel's hair behind her ear. "In high school I was too wound up in myself to show it, but I have never met another person that is filled with so much life. When you walk into a room, you command all attention. It isn't the way that I used to do it either. People look to you because you keep them on their toes and they want to see whats coming next. You never half-ass anything. Everything you do is done to the best of your ability. If you're sad, you're not afraid to cry. When you're happy, the biggest smile I have ever seen comes on your face and you don't want to look away because you're afraid that if you do you might miss it. Even when you're angry and annoyed you have your own face that says exactly how you're feeling. You are the perfect example of what it is to live, and that's why I bullied you so much. You were never afraid to show it, and I was. "

Rachel was speechless. "Wow, Quinn. That's the nicest thing that anyone has ever said to me. Thank you."

"No thank you," Quinn countered. "Thank you for being the reason why I realized that I had to change."

Rachel smiled that megawatt smile again and jumped on Quinn to hug her. Her arm wound around her neck and Quinn found hers tightly embracing her around her waist. Rachel was so soft and warm, and she really didn't want to let go.

* * *

_**So what did y'all think? Are you liking the development so far? I think Quinn's starting to come around and admit some things to herself... I promise that Rachel's on her way too. The next chap will be more from Rachel's side than Quinn's. **_

_**Anything you would like to see? Are you totally hating it? Want to see the parents and hear from friends? Let me know. Xoxo**_


	5. Chapter 5

_**This one gives more of an inside into Rachel's mind because I feel like we know about Quinn, but Rachel not so much. There's also some Faberry progress ;)**_

_**Thanks to all of you who review and follow/ favorite! It's because of y'all that I'm motivated to keep this going! Sorry for the lack of updates, finals has made me much done. Thanks for sticking with me! LOVE YOU!**_

_**Disclaimer?: I don't own anything?**_

* * *

"Rachel!"

"Kurt!"

"How's my favorite Berry doing on this fine morning? I haven't heard from you in over a week! Are you sure you're okay?"

Rachel laughed at his apparent protectiveness. "Oh you know me, Kurt. I'm doing just fine." If leaving Lima had done one thing, it had made Rachel and Kurt grow closer than she had ever imagined it would. They had grown into adults with one another, and she really didn't know what she would do without him.

"Uh huh. Sure, Rachel. So what's the scoop? How're things with that new roommate of yours? Can't be better than me and Santana right? Details!"

Kurt was ever the gossip. "She's actually pretty wonderful. We have meaningful conversations about our lives and what we want out of them, we have similar tastes in music and movies. She's absolutely wonderful and a joy to live with. I don't think I've ever felt more comfortable with another person. She just gets me, you know?

"Wow,honey, that's great! How old is she? What does she do?"

"She's 23 and she's very smart. She's a photographer and she looks at things in such a unique way. The other day we went for a walk in the park to get to the café and it was pretty amazing to see the way she analyzed her surroundings. She just graduated from Yale and it seemed like she was really appreciating the change in scenery away from New Haven. You should have seen her, Kurt. The way her eyes lit up when she was focusing on certain things, simply gorgeous and a privilege to watch. It's going to be a pleasure to live with her, especially since she doesn't complain about my vegan!" Rachel knew that last part would rile him up.

"A lot can change in a week, Missy!" There was a silence before Kurt cleared his throat, "You know, Miss Berry, if I didn't know any better, it would seem to me like you have a little crush."

Rachel sputtered, "What? Kurt no-"

"Oh, Rachel calm down. We all know you think that sexuality is fluid or something like that! Who knows? She may be the change you need in life! You said yourself, she's a smart girl. Yale, right? So she'll have no problem keeping up with you intellectually. What if she's the first to beat you at Scrabble!" Kurt gasped, "Hey, maybe he knew Quinn! That would be funny, right?"

Kurt really had no idea... She needed to stop this before it went too far. "While you're right that gender doesn't matter to me, that's not even the point! Firstly, she's my roommate and a breakup would be unbearable! Secondly, I never said I was interested, let alone attracted to her!"

Kurt was relentless. "Rachel, you said so yourself that she was gorgeous. I don't see any reason as to why you can't test the waters a bit. She'd be your first girl too!"

He sounded so excited. "Kurt, I can't"

"Rachel, is this about Finn? We all miss him! He would want you to live your life instead of staying home, cooped up reading!"

"You know that's not all I do," Rachel defended, "I have a life, thank you very much!"

"Then live it!" Kurt was becoming frustrated.

"I can't!"

Why not?"

"Because he's dead!" The phone was silent. "He's dead, Kurt. I wasn't there for him when he needed me the most. Why should I deserve someone to do the same for me?" Rachel was now doing her best to hold off from sobbing. She knew that everyone thought that he wasn't the best boyfriend at times, but that never mattered to her. He was her first love and that wasn't something that could go away easily.

"Rachel..." Kurt's voice was soft. "Everyone deserves someone. I haven't heard you talk about anyone in the way you're talking about this girl in a very long time. I'm worried about you and Santana is too. We want you to be happy. I have Blaine and we're planning the wedding, and Santana is off with Dani doing whatever it is they do. You deserve happiness too."

"I appreciate that Kurt, but even if I was remotely interested in this girl, I wouldn't go for it."

"Why not, Rachel?" Kurt already sounded defeated. "It won't hurt to try."

She didn't think that the big reveal of her roommate would be like this, but it was too late now. Better late than never. "Because my new roommate is Quinn Fabray, Kurt."

Three was a loud gasp and the sound of something falling in the background. "What?!"

* * *

Quinn stretched out a yawn and chuckled when she opened her eyes to find Edward Cullen glaring moodily down at her.

"Oh, Edward, how are you doing this fine morning? Terrible? That's too bad. I'm wonderful. Let's see if Madame Berry is making us something to eat!"

After living with Rachel for a week, she found that the brunette's company was definitely something to be cherished. Their conversations were intelligent and meaningful and filled with witty banter, she loved it. And it wasn't like she had never had an intelligent conversation in the past, but she valued Rachel's opinion more than those of the intellectual snobs at Yale.

Rachel had such an infectious outlook on life. She was still very ambitious, and that was something that was relieving. Rachel was something familiar in the new life that she was making for herself, and that was very good.

She had yet to ask if Rachel would model for her sometime, but she was starting to gain the confidence to do so. It was immensely clear that Rachel was a beautiful woman, and she really couldn't say that enough. Rachel was beautiful at every single moment, whether she tried or not.

There had been moments where she would walk into the living room and Rachel would be sitting there in sweats with a tank, and she was indescribable. These were the moments when Quinn wished Rachel wouldn't think badly of her for snapping some candid shots that would capture her essence and blow people away.

Rachel had these high cheekbones that complimented her nose nicely. Quinn had no preference on whether or not her hair was up or down. Her hair curled beautifully, and those bangs. Don't get her started on the bangs. Even in high school she had a weakness for Rachel's hair, and if you asked her she would deny it, but she was jealous of her hair. Her eyebrows were thick and beautifully arched. Those pouty lips that were so plump... Those dark brown eyes that expressed so much more than words could. Those beautifully plump lips...

Wait. What? She already said that.

Quinn shook her head to get the thoughts of Rachel's profile out of her mind. That was really weird and borderline obsessive. If she had known any better, she would've thought that she was about to start fantasizing about Rachel's lips.

Rachel's, oh so very full lips that would feel very good on her neck... No!

Quinn scrambled off the bed and into the bathroom where she washed her face and let the cold water run through her fingers before she would wash her face to feels its slight sting. She took a few breaths before she got her bearings straight and headed out to the kitchen to see what Rachel was up to before her mind could get her into any more trouble.

She had never thought about girls that way and she had certainly never thought about Rachel that way, right? True, the students at Yale were all very comfortable with their sexuality and she was no longer the bible-quoting robot that her father had made her, but she didn't do these things. First off, she never had those thoughts about anyone ever. And second off, she liked boys.

Sure enough, Rachel was up in the kitchen dancing around to some of the old Of Monsters and Men songs that they had agreed on liking a few days ago. At first, Quinn couldn't believe that Rachel was an active listener of indie bands, but the diva had set her straight when she rambled for an hour about all the indie bands that had come through New York.

Pushing the thoughts of how Rachel looked cute flitting around in short shorts and a t-shirt while preparing pancakes, Quinn skipped into the kitchen ready to start her day and maybe finally ask about modeling over breakfast.

* * *

"Good morning Sleeping Beauty. Come to join the land of the living?"

Rachel was in a very playful mood this morning after her conversation with Kurt and she chalked it up to her finally being able to talk to someone about how Quinn Fabray had suddenly made it back into her life. After she had given him that little piece of information and he freaked out for a few minutes, he demanded to know everything about Quinn that she had learned so far and questioned about where she had disappeared to. Sad to say that she didn't really know that information either, but Kurt was happy with the small details that she had given him. He understood her reasons for "not going for it" after that, but he still said that she needed to get back into the dating world and that maybe she and Quinn could "go at it together". Yes, she was aware of how sexual that sounded and she reprimanded Kurt after he had taken the liberty to laugh at her silence after he said it.

The girls had formed a routine in the short week that they had been living together. Rachel had been waking up at 6 in the morning since high school, and she refused to stop now. The elliptical downstairs was the perfect way to sort out all her thoughts and plan the rest of her morning. After her hour on the elliptical, she would take a nice bubble bath and read a few chapters from one of the books that she was reading at the time. Once she was done with that, she would get changed and head to living room to watch tv or maybe read some more depending on how she was feeling. Sometimes she would get on the computer and look up recipes or browse around on Amazon for online shopping.

She even knew Quinn's little routine as well. Quinn would wake up at around 9 every morning and so far every other day was committed to a 1 hour jog as soon as she woke up. Rachel would wait to make breakfast for them on these days, and would wait for Quinn to get back instead of eating without her. On the days that the blonde wouldn't jog, Rachel liked to have breakfast ready by the time Quinn woke up. There was even some compromising done. Quinn agreed to eating vegan meals with Rachel if she allowed real bacon and eggs in the morning along with real dairy products. At any other time of the day, Quinn was vegan all they way.

This was one of the things that had both charmed and surprised Rachel after the first few initial days of them living together. In all the years that she had lived with Kurt and Santana, they had never once eaten completely vegan meals together. Instead, Kurt and Santana would make their own meal together and Rachel would have to make something for only herself. She never complained about it once though. She knew that being vegan was something very hard to adjust to and she didn't think any less of her friends for never trying. The fact that Quinn was so accepting on a moments notice was very refreshing though.

Their vegan meals together were something that she began to look forward to every day. Whether it was Thai from the nearby delivery place or the soup, lasagna, and pasta that Quinn had made so far, she couldn't wait to see what Quinn had planned for her. The blonde had told her to think of it as her giving thanks for the breakfast every morning. Rachel would do breakfast from now on, and Quinn would do dinner. That left lunch up in the air and open to numerous possibilities.

Quinn moaned in appreciation as she took the first bite of her pancakes and Rachel smirked as she turned around to resume her teasing once more. "I take it you like my pancakes, Aurora."

Quinn rolled her eyes in return. "Settle down there, Walt. The princess jokes are going to get pretty old fast. And we all know how old you are already." Quinn winked after that last statement. Rachel was only a couple of months older than Quinn, that was barely any time at all!

She pretended to look affronted, "Am I to take that non-answer to my question and insult to my person as you saying that you don't enjoy the breakfast I make for you? You seemed to enjoy it the last 6 days in a row, Quinn."

Quinn shrugged her shoulders and continued to eat her pancakes, making a deep grimace this time when she put them in her mouth.

Rachel pouted, "I'm offended, Quinn."

Quinn smiled slyly, "Wounded even?"

Rachel placed her hand on her heart and replied as dramatically as she could, "Hurt, Quinn."

The girls stayed silent for a short moment before either of them could take it any longer and they both erupted into a fit of giggles. Another thing that had let them grow closer was the nightly movie session that they had been having. "A movie a night keeps the bitches tight." is what Rachel had proclaimed once Quinn mentioned she wouldn't mind seeing more movies with her.

The small scene they had just acted out came from _Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. _Quinn had convinced her that it was worth the watch and she had to admit that the movie was actually pretty good. It wasn't her normal watch and didn't nearly have enough Anna Kendrick in it for her taste, but the movie was hilarious and Kieran Culkan was awesome as a gay man.

Rachel looked fondly at Quinn and replayed what Kurt had told her this morning in her head. New Quinn was nothing like Old Quinn and she was fast becoming intrigued and smitten with the blonde before her. She had always been envious of Quinn's natural beauty. Hell, Quinn was sitting here in her kitchen with no makeup on, glasses, and a ratty t-shirt with shorts, and she was still hands down the most beautiful woman Rachel had ever seen. And that's because she had seen her fair share of talented dancers and hopeful models during her time here in New York.

Oblivious to anything other than her own mind, she didn't notice when Quinn began to look at her with a humorous expression and that damn eyebrow raised like it always was. She immediately felt heat rush to her cheeks when she saw that Quinn had caught her staring at her, but she knew she wasn't alone when Quinn's cheeks mirrored her own. Quinn was the first to break when she bent her head and readjusted her glasses. With a shy smile, she looked back up. "Your pancakes are very delicious, Rachel. I'm really thankful for you making breakfast every morning." She paused briefly, "And you're not really _that _old."

She didn't know why, but Quinn poking fun at her never failed to send that rush of warmth to her cheeks. She knew that she was most likely blushing furiously at the moment, but she couldn't bring herself to care. Nothing else really mattered when she was as happy as she was in this moment. Her mind briefly wandered to past conversations and moments she shared with Finn, but they were nothing like the ones she had with Quinn. She didn't have to dumb things down, for lack of a better phrase, and they had similar interests that made conversation flow easily.

"Rach, you okay?"

Rachel's eyes zoomed into the pink lip that was currently in between Quinn's teeth, and she laughed nervously before starting her own meal. "I'm quite alright, Quinn. Just thinking about my plans for today. What are you up to?"

Quinn closed her eyes while she seemed to savor the last bit of pancake on her plate. That girl could eat really fast and it seemed to go nowhere at all. Lucky. "I was thinking of taking some shots in the garden today." The blonde pushed her plate away I cleared her throat nervously, "A-actually, I was wondering if you'd be a model in some of the shots?"

Rachel's eyes widened, "You want me to model? Why would you want me? There isn't someone else you can ask? Someone more experienced in the modeling area maybe or someone with more... likeable features?"

Quinn choked on her milk, "More likeable features? Rachel your gorgeous!" Rachel had started to shake her head no, "Rachel, stop it, you're beautiful. And I don't really know anyone in New York yet besides you, and I know you well enough to explore and play with different shots and not be criticized for being an amateur. Please say you'll do it?"

Rachel honestly didn't hear anything past the point when Quinn called her gorgeous, but her mind was already made up to help. "I'll do it, Quinn. I'm more than happy to help you with any of your future endeavors. Just tell me when you want me to meet you, and I'm all yours."

There was a slight flush on Quinn's cheeks, but Rachel ignored it. Quinn stuck out her hand. "You've got yourself a deal, Berry. Finish up your breakfast oh slow one, and meet me in the garden in about an hour. I'll go see where I want to set things up at."

Rachel nodded in acknowledgment and made a big show out of chewing her food the slowest she could without risking herself choking. Quinn stuck out her tongue and held up her middle finger as she walked away. Yeah, you could say they were getting even closer. And maybe she was beginning to feel okay about that.

* * *

_**Question time! **_

_**So short chapters in shorter time spans, or slightly longer chapters in a week or two? **_

_**How are y'all liking this? Are you hating it?**_

_**How do you feel about progress?**_

_**Any ideas for the "photo shoot"? **_

_**Questions, comments, concerns? Let me know!**_


End file.
